Race Lineup

The official 2023 Shriners Children's 200 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Darlington Raceway.

Shriners Children's 200

Saturday, May 13th, 2023

Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC

  • 5 Toyota
  • 27 Chevrolet
  • 9 Ford

  • Darlington Raceway
  • Shriners Children's 200
  • Pole Winner: John Hunter Nemechek
  • Age: 25
  • Team : No. 20 - Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Ben Beshore
  • John Hunter Nemechek won the Pole Award for the Shriners Children's 200 with a lap of 29.613 seconds, 166.062 mph.
  • This is his second pole in 78 NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his first pole and 10th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in four races at Darlington Raceway.
  • Ryan Truex (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2023 and his first in four races at Darlington Raceway.
  • Kyle Larson (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Darlington Raceway. It is his first in one race this season.
  • Chandler Smith (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Saturday, May 13th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Kyle Larson wins intense battle in NASCAR Xfinity race at Darlington

In a fitting end to a true Darlington slugfest, Kyle Larson won Saturday's Shriners Children's 200 after bouncing off the wall at the Turn 4 exit and knocking John Hunter Nemechek into the inside SAFER barrier 100 yards short of the finish line.

With the help of two opportune cautions, Larson recovered from a speeding penalty that sent him to the rear of the field for the start of the final stage.

Restarting behind race winner Nemechek for the final green-flag run with seven laps left, Larson stalked the No. 20 Toyota and charged into the lead on the final lap, as the top two cars made side-to-side contact on at least three occasions during the run to the checkers.

"We had a really, really good car the whole race, and I made a mistake on pit road," said Larson, who was driving the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing. "I knew we were going to have time to get to the front if we had a caution.

"We were picking off cars really fast and had some lane selections work out for me… We were just bouncing off each other a little bit. I don't know what happened in (Turn) 3. It seemed like he (Nemechek) tried to get behind me to shove me into the corner.

"It kind of hooked me right, and I hit the wall, and I was trying to stay away from him and get off of (Turn) 4. What an exciting race there."

The victory was Larson's first of the season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first at Darlington in any of NASCAR's top three divisions. It was Larson's 14th career Xfinity win in his only start so far this year.

Nemechek, who beat Larson in a photo finish to win Stage 2, had to settle for fifth after the last-lap crash. Justin Allgaier claimed the runner-up spot, followed by Cole Custer, who pitted for fresh tires on Lap 137 and charged forward from 16th after the final restart on Lap 141. Austin Hill was fourth in a damaged car.

"Had a really fast race car and battling with one of the best in the sport in my opinion, Kyle Larson," said Nemechek, who led 57 laps to Larson's 46. "It was a really great day…

"Just disappointed a little bit from the standpoint of how that ended up there. Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of Turn 4. Fast car, top-five to show for it, when it probably should have been Victory Lane or second."

Larson paced the field when Sheldon Creed washed up the track and pinched Nemechek's Toyota against the wall on Lap 67. Trying to avoid the wreck, Sam Mayer steered his Chevrolet down the track into the Camaro of Hill, who slid sideways into the path of Brandon Jones. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet couldn't avoid terminal damage.

Behind Jones and Hill, the cars of Ryan Truex and Chandler Smith spun in tandem, with the crush panels cascading out of the driver's side of Smith's No. 16 Chevrolet.

All told, 11 cars sustained damage in the wreck, and four others merely spun and continued. Jones, Chandler Smith and Truex fell out of the race.

Unlike Friday night's NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, which ran without cautions for racing incidents during the first two stages, action in the Xfinity Series event started early and ultimately resulted in 10 cautions for 51 laps.

On Lap 4, Sammy Smith spun in Turn 2 while running beneath the No. 98 Ford of Riley Herbst, causing the first caution. After the subsequent restart on Lap 8, Smith slipped sideways, making slight contact with Justin Allgaier's No. 7 Chevrolet.

And on Lap 12, Herbst pancaked the right side of his Mustang against the outside wall and came to pit road for an unscheduled stop, losing two laps in the process.

Nineteen laps later, Herbst slammed the wall between Turns 1 and 2 and exited the race in last place with irreparable damage.

Jeb Burton spun on Lap 39 to cause the second caution. After pit stops, Larson won the first stage six laps later, beating pole winner Nemechek to the green/checkered flag.

The second stage contained its own share of action. Parker Retzlaff spun off Turn 4 across traffic to cause the fourth caution. Lap 60 brought two separate incidents that saw the front right quarter panels ripped off the cars of Sage Karam and Anthony Alfredo.

Seven laps later came the Talladega-sized "Big One" that destroyed the winning chances of more than a handful of contending cars.

  • Drivers Entered: 41 (3 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 147
  • Margin of Victory: 01.337 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 11 Minutes 4 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 91.924
  • Cautions: 10 for 51 laps
  • Lead Changes: 18
  • Green Flag Passes: 1,086 (11.3 passes per green flag lap)

  • Darlington Raceway
  • Shriners Children?s 200
  • Race Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 30
  • Team : No. 10 - HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
  • Owner: Matthew Kaulig
  • Crew Chief: Alex Yontz
  • Kyle Larson won the Shriners Children?s 200, his 14th victory in 112 Xfinity Series races.
  • This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in six races at Darlington Raceway.
  • Justin Allgaier (second) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 16 races at Darlington Raceway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Cole Custer (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in four races at Darlington Raceway.
  • Sammy Smith (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • John Hunter Nemechek leads the point standings by 1 points over Austin Hill.
John Hunter Nemechek leads the field to the green flag
Darlington, South Carolina - May 13, 2023 : John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the #20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, leads the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Xfinity Series Shriners Children's 200 at Darlington Raceway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images
Race lineup for the Shriners Children's 200 at Darlington Raceway
ST # DRIVER MAKE SPD TIME BHND SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 20 John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 166.062 29.613 0.000 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
2 19 Ryan Truex Toyota 165.275 29.754 0.141 Toyota Outfitters Joe Gibbs Racing Jason Ratcliff
3 10 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 165.081 29.789 0.176 Hendrickcars.com Kaulig Racing Alex Yontz
4 1 Sam Mayer Chevrolet 164.749 29.849 0.236 Accelerate Pros Talent Jr Motorsports Mardy Lindley
5 00 Cole Custer Ford 164.578 29.880 0.267 Haas Automation Stewart-haas Racing Jonathan Toney
6 16 Chandler Smith Chevrolet 164.221 29.945 0.332 Quick Tie Products, Inc. Kaulig Racing Bruce Schlicker
7 2 Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 164.194 29.950 0.337 Whelen Richard Childress Racing Jeff Stankiewicz
8 31 Parker Retzlaff Chevrolet 163.582 30.062 0.449 FUNKAWAY Jordan Anderson Racing Joshua Graham
9 18 Sammy Smith Toyota 163.316 30.111 0.498 Pilot Flying J Joe Gibbs Racing Jeff Meendering
10 21 Austin Hill Chevrolet 163.121 30.147 0.534 Bennett Transportation Richard Childress Racing Andy Street
11 9 Brandon Jones Chevrolet 163.007 30.168 0.555 Menards / Cheez-It Jr Motorsports Jason Burdett
12 11 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 162.980 30.173 0.560 Cirkul Kaulig Racing Jason Trinchere
13 8 Josh Berry Chevrolet 162.905 30.187 0.574 Tire Pros Love The Drive Jr Motorsports Taylor Moyer
14 25 Brett Moffitt Ford 162.824 30.202 0.589 AM Technical Solutions Am Racing Joe Williams
15 27 Jeb Burton Chevrolet 162.759 30.214 0.601 Capital City Towing Jordan Anderson Racing Shane Whitbeck
16 39 Ryan Sieg Ford 162.667 30.231 0.618 TBA Rss Racing Mike Scearce
17 7 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 162.506 30.261 0.648 BRANDT Heritage Jr Motorsports Jim Pohlman
18 98 Riley Herbst Ford 162.426 30.276 0.663 Monster Energy Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
19 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 162.169 30.324 0.711 First Pacific Funding Jeremy Clements Racing Mark Setzer
20 78 Anthony Alfredo Chevrolet 161.875 30.379 0.766 Dude Wipes Bj Mcleod Motorsports Pat Tryson
21 91 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 161.747 30.403 0.790 Florida Watermelon Association Dgm Racing Mario Gosselin
22 44 Sage Karam Chevrolet 161.699 30.412 0.799 CRC Alpha Prime Racing Frank Kerr
23 48 Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 161.360 30.476 0.863 Big Machine Racing Spiked Big Machine Racing Patrick Donahue
24 24 Corey Heim Toyota 161.111 30.523 0.910 GearWrench Sam Hunt Racing Kris Bowen
25 177 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 161.006 30.543 0.930 Premier Security Spire Motorsports Bono Manion
26 26 Kaz Grala Toyota 160.748 30.592 0.979 Fire Department Coffee Sam Hunt Racing Allen Hart
27 92 Josh Williams Chevrolet 160.486 30.642 1.029 Call 811 / Alloy Employer Dgm Racing Bryan Berry
28 7 Stefan Parsons Chevrolet 160.438 30.651 1.038 OLLIE's Ss-green Light Racing Mark Hillman
29 128 Kyle Sieg Ford 159.125 30.904 1.291 Cedar Ridge Landscaping Rss Racing Brad Parrott
30 3 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 159.048 30.919 1.306 Ferris Commercial Mowers Richard Childress Racing Mike Wolf
31 35 Patrick Emerling Chevrolet 158.832 30.961 1.348 TBA Emerling Gase Motorsports Paul Clapprood
32 43 Ryan Ellis Chevrolet 158.668 30.993 1.380 Keen Parts Alpha Prime Racing Michael Brandt
33 45 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 157.353 31.252 1.639 BZ Mart/ForeverLawn Alpha Prime Racing Michael Groves
34 53 Matt Mills Ford 156.577 31.407 1.794 J.F. Electric Emerling Gase Motorsports Wayne Carroll Jr
35 6 Brennan Poole Chevrolet 156.402 31.442 1.829 TBA Jd Motorsports Kase Kallenbach
36 8 Gray Gaulding Ford 156.015 31.520 1.907 Panini Ss-green Light Racing Jason Miller
37 38 Joe Graf Jr Ford 0.000 0.000 29.613 TBA Rss Racing Steve Addington
38 02 Blaine Perkins Chevrolet 0.000 0.000 29.613 our motorsports Our Motorsports Dan Stillman
*39 4 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 156.676 31.387 1.774 Trophy Tractor Jd Motorsports Rob Goodman
*40 66 Chad Finchum Ford 156.283 31.466 1.853 Wild Willies Motorsports Business Management Jason HOUGHTALING
*41 74 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 154.988 31.729 2.116 Magnum Contracting Inc Chk Racing Ryan Bell

* Did Not Qualify (DNQ) for race.